From accountants to writers, I can’t think of one field in which a freelancer shouldn’t be on Twitter. The trick is though, in knowing how you want to use it, and actually getting started (If you’re nervous, make sure to read all the way to the end.) In my work (business writing) Twitter is the […]
Creating Your Best Portfolio
Your portfolio is an experience. Testimonials, samples…I stressed about getting those together into a great package when I first started freelancing as a writer. What I didn’t realize at the time, was that the traditional portfolio—that collection of art work, photographs, successful projects—was just one of many checkboxes that clients were looking to tick before […]
3 Major Decisions Mid-Career Workers Should Make Before Trying Freelancing.
This post will help you with Phase 1 of the Black Freelance Foundations Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! The real disillusionment kicked in for me about seven years into my career. I’d taken the big vacations, tried hobbies ranging from cooking to kickboxing, and gotten a masters degree. One day it […]
Finding Freelance Clients: Black Fashion Edition
Finding Freelance Clients: Black Fashion Edition Your favorite sites probably live and breathe by free content…i.e., people like you doing great (or not so great) work for them for absolutely nothing. This would be an obvious problem anywhere else in the world — I used to go to a gym where the vast majority of […]
Marketing Your Freelance Services To Black Businesses
Let me start this off by saying this is not my area of expertise. I work with B2B companies in a standardized industry, but want to help further a deeper conversation around marketing, and help you sell your services at the same time. I’m not a procrastinator. I’m the opposite…I over-prepare and pre-prepare, and […]
10 Things Freelancers Should Blog About
Blogging sells what you do without the work. That’s why I’m a firm believer in maintaining an online presence, even if your goal isn’t to become “a blogger”. Especially in freelancing, it helps to demonstrate knowledge, your ability to communicate, it creates a platform to show off your skills, and is proof that you’re engaged […]
3 Reasons You’ll Be Great At Freelancing
This post will help you with Phase 1 of the Black Freelance Foundations Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! If you have a full-time job (or are looking for one), you’re aiming for a straightforward employment relationship—you sell your work to one company and they pay you a set rate (per hour, […]
Univision’s Purchase Of The Root Worries Me
Backstory: It was announced on Friday that Univision (owned by Haim Saban) had purchased The Root, the Black news and culture site co-founded by Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. I don’t trust Univision. I’ve watched for over a decade (in my studies of Spanish), and their programming is socially juvenile at best. I don’t mean that […]
5 Signs “Exposure” Is A Trap (And 3 More It Isn’t)
@BlackFreelance1 I’m just not a fan of disorganization, unethical behavior, and the “exposure” trap. Nope…exposure doesn’t pay bills lol — Tai Gooden (@taigooden) May 21, 2015 OK…so this one applies to all freelancers, but bloggers, photographers, musicians, and designers especially, I’m gonna need you to read this whole post. “Exposure” is a rook. Well…except when […]
5 Reasons New Graduates Should Freelance (Especially If You’re Black)
This post will help you with Phase 1 of the Black Freelance Foundations Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! Freelancing is downright near normal these days. A full 34% of American workers freelance in some way, and that number is expected to grow to 50% in the next 5 years. The concept […]